


Kinship Spirit

by Aegir



Category: Frontier Wolf - Rosemary Sutcliff, The Silver Branch - Rosemary Sutcliff
Genre: Gen, Letter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-04 01:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2904458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aegir/pseuds/Aegir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tiberius Lucius Justinianus to his kinsman, Alexios Flavius Aquila, Greetings</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kinship Spirit

_Tiberius Lucius Justinianus to his kinsman, Alexios Flavius Aquila, Greetings_

I am about indulge myself in that most annoying habit of the old, the handing out of unasked for advice. My excuse for this is that it’s advice I would have been grateful for before I took up my first posting in north Britain, but by all means throw this letter into the fire, cursing meddling elderly relatives, if you have heard it all before.

First advice is that you will be very cold up there. Probably not as cold as I was, having lived so much of my life in the warmer parts of Empire, but still the frontier of Britannia is the coldest place I have ever known. Colder than the Danubis, even colder than the territory of your grandmother’s kindred among the Ordovices. Pack the warmest clothes you can find, with particular care for socks and underwear. You will be glad of it later.

Second, be very careful of the local beverages. I don’t know quite what they put in their brews among the heather, but there’s something there I’ve never known south of the Wall. Your grandfather felt very sorry for himself for a full two days, after unwisely indulging while on a local courtesy visit.

The hunting up there is grand, but be sure to have one of the local hunters show you the trails. You won’t just find the game faster, it’s good manners. Rome’s hand has always lain lightly up there, so it’s best to act as a guest rather than an intruder. Of course you likely don’t need me to tell you that part, knowing far more of the British tribes than I did at your age, and likely more than your grandfather even. You’ll see a difference, I think, in the lands beyond the Wall, even from the tribes of the west mountains, but there is much the same as well. You’ll have a good start. 

One more thing, then I will spare you any more of my spidery writing. The north of Britain is not the end of the world. It does feel a little like it at first, at least it did to me when I was a young cub sent to the Wall. But it’s not. Really.

Farewell my kinsman and good hunting.

**Author's Note:**

> Justin is about seventy when he writes this letter.
> 
> I made Alexios Flavius’ grandson, rather than his son, although that makes for rather a tight chronology, because Alexios mentions a British grandmother who sang him songs. This can’t be Flavius’ mother, who is dead before The Silver Branch opens, and from what we know of Alexios’ mother it seems unlikely it was her mother.


End file.
